PMPS - A PROTOTYPE CAPP SYSTEM FOR PARALLEL MACHINING

Parallel N.C. machines, also referred to as mill-turns, are a new gene ration of machine tools aimed at increasing machining accuracy and red ucing part cycle times. In addition to their capacity to do both milli ng and turning, these next generation machines tools can perform multi ple machining operations simultaneously, involving one or more parts a t a time, and can completely finish a part (front and back) in a singl e setup. Parallel machining raises issues with respect to computer aid ed process planning which have not been dealt with in the past. In thi s paper, a prototype CAPP system called PMPS, for parallel machining, is described. First, we briefly highlight the new issues to be dealt w ith in process planning for parallel machining. Next, the architecture and details of PMPS, a generative CAPP system, is described. Finally, the implementation and results are discussed.